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Updated: June 11, 2025
On October 20, 1914, the allied line stretched a few miles to the northeast of Ypres from Bixschoote to the crossroads a mile and a half northwest of Zonnebeke. The cavalry only were kept busy during this day, while the other forces were making elaborate preparations for the main drive. The great attack was delivered October 21 against the point of the salient between Zonnebeke and Besselaere.
On October 24, 1914, the Germans advanced upon the allied extreme left; but were successfully repulsed between Zonnebeke and Poelcapelle. Later in the day the Germans renewed their attack and compelled the allied troops to retire some distance. The advance on the allied left was continued on Sunday, October 25, 1914.
B Company, on the right, however, had a comparatively good time and suffered very few casualties, whilst No. 5 Platoon, under Lieut. A.B. Hare, had none at all, and reached Zonnebeke Crossing in safety. The remaining Companies got the full effect of the barrage, which included gas shells, and lost direction towards the left. Capt. W.H.D. Devey, commanding C Company, was wounded, Capt.
Orders were accordingly issued to Company Commanders verbally by the Adjutant as follows: The Battalion is to occupy the line between Hill 37, which can be seen on the left front, and Zonnebeke crossing, which lies on the road. Advance in artillery formation, take advantage of the cover afforded by the ground, and each Company Commander should accompany one of his rear Platoons.
All honour to those that gallantly stormed the muddy slopes of Passchendaele; to the wonderful engineers that conquered the squalid quagmires of Langemarck and Zonnebeke; to the gunners that stuck to their guns under a rain of bombs and shells, and to the transport drivers that fed them. It is a tale of wonderful gallantry and heroic endeavour.
On December 15 I went with General Riddell to visit the 5th N.F. Battalion H.Q. at Tyne Cottages, some pill-boxes about half-way between forward B.H.Q. and Passchendaele. It was a long walk, and we went up the Zonnebeke Road till we were in the neighbourhood of that village, then along the mule track to Tyne Cottages.
Rawlinson's failure before Menin left him facing south-east, while the expulsion of the Belgians and then the French Territorials from the Houthulst forest left Haig and the French contingents facing north-east from Bixschoote to Zonnebeke; the apex of this Ypres salient was at Becelaere.
On the French right, to the northeast of Zonnebeke, was the Canadian division, under the command of General Alderson, consisting of the Third Brigade, under General Turner, on the left, and the Second Brigade, under General Currie, on the right. The Twenty-eighth Division extended from the Canadian right to the southeast corner of the Polygon Wood.
On the 26th Haig struck again with similar results: Zonnebeke was captured, the woods cleared up to the outskirts of Reutel, and another advance made on the Menin road. Fierce German counter-attacks were repulsed during the next few days, and on 4 October our offensive was resumed.
Instead of advancing on Thourout and beyond, it had to dig itself in on a line of defence from Rawlinson's left at Zonnebeke to Bixschoote, where the French began their own and the Belgian front along the Yser to Nieuport. The impact of the opposing forces had flattened them out until they extended to the coast, and the point at which they reached it remained fixed for four years to a day.
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